Union minister Nitin Gadkari was on Wednesday given the additional charge of portfolios held by Gopinath Munde who died in a road accident here.

A Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said President Pranab Mukherjee, as advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has directed that Gadkari shall be given additional charge of the ministries of rural development, panchayati raj and drinking water and sanitation.

Gadkari is Union minister of road transport, highways and shipping in the Modi-led government.

Munde, 64, who had made his entry into the Cabinet for the first time last week, died on Tuesday morning when his car was hit by another vehicle at Prithviraj Road-Tughlak Road intersection.

Close shave for RSS chief

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat escaped unhurt when his car was hit by his escort vehicle which was bumped by a Haryana government vehicle while he was on his way to the airport.

The driver of the erring vehicle has been arrested for rash and negligent driving. According to police, the offending vehicle was a Tata Sumo, which belonged to Haryana government. When the incident took place, it was being driven by Sohanlal (40), a resident of Pinjore Haryana.

Sohanlal was taking the chief accounts officer of the Haryana government for a meeting in Gurgaon on Delhi's outskirts.

House adjourned

Cabinet minister Gopinath Munde's death cast a shadow over Lok Sabha's first sitting on Wednesday, which was adjourned for the day after paying homage to the departed leader.

Proceedings of the House began on a sombre note, after the national anthem was played out, as pro tem speaker Kamal Nath condoled the death of Munde, whom he hailed as "man of the masses".

Immediately after meeting for the day, Nath said the new Lok Sabha "charged with great and heavy responsibilities for the welfare of the country and our people has been elected under the Constitution".